Candaroglu Mahmut Bey Mosque in Kasaba Koy, 1366 C.E.

"Çandaroğlu Mahmut Bey Mosque in Kasaba Köyü, Kastamonu" (This is a shorter version of an essay presented for the Cosmological Patters in Early Islamic Architecture during the Spring of 2003 at the Faculty of Architecture, Middle East Technical University)

The Çandaroğlu Mahmut Bey Mosque, is one of the few wooden columned mosques remaining from the Late Seljuki period in Anatolia. Its walls are cut stone and inside is completely made out of timber. The particular interest of this study is the ornamentations done by painting on the timber surfaces of the structure, especially the ceiling. The existing remains of another mosque, a mesdjit, two public bathhouses and numerous old Konaks (homes for large families) give us an idea of Kasaba villages importance during the 13th through 17th centuries. The town once housed a population of 25,000. After the17th century, for different reasons, the population diminished and presently there are now about 400 people in 30 dwellings. In the old records of Vakfiye (records of the deeds), the village was once called Ilısu and in some other writings as Kasaba Örenciği. However over the years, because of its importance, the town was began to be called as Kasaba and the name stuck.

The Mosque: It is located in the north east side of the village in a large garden with red picked fence. As it is entered form the main road through a small creek, the mosque has the appearance of a large complex behind the concrete red fence. It is consisted of a mosque, a guesthouse, a Şadırvan (an absolution fountain), and the graves of previous Imams and Mahmut Beys relatives. The front doors of both structures, the mosque and the guesthouse, face each other and they are about 50 meters apart. The Şadırvan in area closer to the mosque is rather small and has a six-sided holding tank made out of marble. In the records, it is said that a Türbe (tomb or a small mausoleum) was attached to the Son Cemaat place and it housed Mahmut Beys relatives. However, it was torn down in the 1940s and the head stones were removed. Mosques Kitabe, the inscription plate, is inside the Son Cemaat place right above the entrance door. It is rectangular in shape and measures 68cm by 48 cm. From the inscriptions we learn that the mosque was ordered to be build during the month of Ramadan in the Miladi year of 1366 (or Hicri 768) by Adil Beys (the 5th ruler of the Çandaroğulları dynasty) younger son Candaroglu Emir Mahmut Bey. Also, during the year of 1374 (Hicri 776) Candaroglu Emir Mahmut Bey donated his lands around the Kasaba village for the general up keep and the maintenance of the Mosque.
The mosque is a rectangular building measuring 17,90m by 11.55m. The walls are 120cm in thickness and made with unevenly cut stone and mortar. Inside the building the walls are covered with smooth plaster. The roof is wooden and over it laid by roof tiles. The single balconied minaret of the mosque presents a contrast with its evenly cut stone and its distant placement from the building as a whole. It is understood from the elders of the village that the previous minaret was damaged due to an earthquake in 1943 and the present one was erected two years later.

The Door: The door was stolen in 1997, and found in a mosque garden in Manisa. It was brought back to Kastamonu and placed in the Ethnographical Museum housed in Liva Pasa Konak. Hikmet Değirmencioğlu, one of the local wood artisans, made an exact replica of it in 60 days. It is this replica that is hung at the Mahmut Bey Mosque. It is a very well preserved example of Kündekari stylemade without nails or glue. It is a two-sided door, each measuring 170cm in length and 100cm in width. The ornamentations on the door are raised and carved in between type. There are writings, floral and geometric designs that are representative of this era. From the writings on its center medallion when the door is shut, we understand that it was made by Amele Abdullah bin Mahmut en Nakkaş [Wood carver (ornamentalist), the laborer Abdullah the son of Mahmut]. Another example of this door is in the center of Kastamonu, the Ibni Neccar (Eliguzel) Mosque built in 1353. Similar examples are at the Ahi Serafeddin and Ahi Elvan Mosques in Ankara. It is certain that between the years of 1350 and 1367 Nakkaş Abdullah had lived and had been a prominent wood worker in Ankara. When the door is shut the carvings are symmetrical. In the center of both panels, on the left and the right, there are rosettes like medallions and upper and lower sides of these medallions are reversed teardrop shaped carvings. In the center of the door, when shut, there is a thin but carved molding attached lengthwise. The presentations of carvings are rather softer in their infinite motion with palmettos and curved branches. The lower panels on both sides are a contrast with their straight edged web like geometric designs to the rest of the door. The upper panels have Arabic inscriptions from the Quran. The one on the right says Ve enel mescide lillahi felatedu maallahu ahaden [Mescidler Allaha mahsustur. Orada Allahtan baskasina ibadet edilemez. Mosques belong to Allah. In there, one cannot pray anyone else], and the one the left says Galellahu tebareke ve teala.

The Interior of the Structure: As one enters from the doors will come across with the under eves of the balconies which are accessed through steps on both ends of the entrance wall. It is rather dark and has the musty smell of timber. Upon walking about five steps will recognize the reddish to brown colored wooden pillars and beams across supporting the huge timber ceiling above. There are five rather large windows on the lower sections and seven smaller ones on the upper sections of the walls. They have wooden casings and two shutter wings that open inward. However, considering the thickness of the walls (1.20m) they are rather set inward from the exterior walls and thus light has trouble getting in. The metal cage on the outside is rather similar to many from that era. Upon entry one walks right under the Mahfil, or the balcony, which it is completely made out wood. They are not attached to the walls but they structurally stand on their own. The pillars on the back and on the front are attached to the rear main pillars of the mosque. The balconys floor are made with thick and wide planks of wood and at the ends they rest on the cross beams on both sides of the walls but not touching them. From this balcony there are steps on each side that go up to two other smaller levels. These too are made out of timber. The rail guards on the main balcony are divided into four sections and the inner two and the outer two have matching designs. These railings with their hexagonal cross weavings, present us a series of six pointed stars that are rather representative of this period. This shows us the maturity of this era in timber construction. As one enters from the door, there is one additional mahfil (balcony) present on the right side of the mosque. This seems to be placed for the muezzins (those who recite the religions songs) during the later years. As a matter of fact, the repeating delicate tulip paintings seems to suggest the construction of this mahfil to be around the Tulip period of Ottoman Empire during the early 18th century. Once the eyes are adjusted we see four pillars two on each side. The two that are closer to door are simpler and they support the parallel beams through the whole length of the mosque. On their tops there are smooth receding box like rectangular capitals. The other two pillars on the Kible side (one that faces to Mecca) too have sporting function like the others. But they rather have more ornate capitals with un-matching stalactite like details attached later. These eight meters long round pillars divide the 11.45m by 9.10m prayer area into three Nefs (sections). The ceiling is the part of the whole structure that we need to pay attention the most. The whole ceiling roof rests upon the aforementioned four pillars. The center two cross lengths on top of the capitals support the resting cross beams through out the width of the ceiling and thus they divide the ceiling into three equal sections. The empty spaces between the cross beams have been covered with wide planks with their smooth sides looking downward. The beams were trimmed at their ends in S shapes again facing down to have a better esthetic view. The Minber, where the religious personimamleads his congregation, seems to have seen some repairs over the years. But the crown section on its top has a resemblance to the stalactites of the front two pillars. So, it is quite possible that it too has survived the test of time. Conical section above the crown molding of the Minber is like a six-sided pyramid. The niche section of Mihrap is crowned with symmetrical two curves meeting at top making a point; under it are the stalactites. Above the pointed arch there are 49 medallions in the shape of swirling buttons. The large panels surrounding both sides of the niche are covered with continues geometrical and floral designs. On the both sides of the niche area there are short and thin columns that rotate on their own axis. One on the left still rotates; and the other one on the right, due to an apparent diagonal crack on the whole Mihrap does not turn freely.
The gypsum plaster around the widows and the cupboards, while share a similar characteristics with the plaster work around the Mihrap, their techniques and style seem to have been forced on to the structure and they show more resemblance to the 17th and 18th century works.
In the literature it is suggested that the attendance arrangement of this Mahmut Bey Mosque was very close to what was mentioned in Ibn Batutas Seyahatname (Travel Journal) when he visited this region during the reign of the Candaroglu Emir Süleyman the First (1300-1340 CE). In Seyahatname, Batuta had written about a Mosque at some distance from Kastamonu. In this mosque there were three wooden mahfils (balcony). The Bey (sultan) would pray and practice in the sah (the ground floor); the kadi (judge), the alims (scholars), high-ranking military personnel would be on the mahfil right about the ground floor. The crown prince with his slaves and the public would be in practice in the last highest mahfil.

The Ornamentations Inside the Structure: In this mosque three different types of artisanship from the 14th century Anatolia come out. They are dülgerlik, nakkaşlık and alçı işçiliği, carpentry, painting and plaster works, respectively. Here in the mosque the choices of colors and the artistry in painting the different structural parts like the beams or the buttress have presented a unique study of ornamentation of this era. The extensive usage of reds and yellows presents rather soft arrangements; especially on the bulk heads and also on smooth empty spaces where the cross beams dissect the two main lengthy supporting main beams right above the four pillars. The style of the painting and the artistry that is present in Mahmut Bey Mosque is very similar to that of in Eşrefoğlu mosque in the town of Beyşehir of Konya Province. The Nakkaşlık, the painting artistry, had taken place after a tedious preparation of the surfaces. When seen with a naked eye, the presence of white colored paint is obvious all through out the wooden parts of the structure as if it is seeping through the heavily colored figures. However, upon close examination, it is actually the original base coat that was applied right around the time of the construction during 1266 CE. This white colored base coat was made with linen seed oil. Under it, the cracks were apparently filled with clay like substance and the knot holes were filled with glued pieces of cloths. After both the preparation of the surfaces and the base coat, a second flat solid colored paint was applied. On top of this last coat the figures were drawn and painted by pencil like brushes. While the dominating colors that are used in the mosque range from orange to ruby red, the wide application of black and white, indigo, sky blue, golden and dirty yellow too are present. The colors have been through the test of time for more than 600 years. Some colors that were painted over the dominant ones have diffused the other; and thus, over time an unintended color became about. The technical application of the painting was rather ingenious. First the designs were drawn on paper and then they were cut or drilled to create openings like stenciling. After that, the artisans applied powdery paint onto the stencils; and later, with the pen-like brushes called Kalem the empty spaces under the stencils were painted. Aside from this stenciling, free style of painting is present as well. The free style is generally present in the non-repeating sections of the woodwork. From the Kalem (brush) strokes, upon close examining, in 1944, Akok fount out that the artistic painting and the calligraphy in the mosque was performed by two different artists with very similar talents. In addition to this, there is an apparent harmony in between the nakkaş (artisan) and the dülger (carpenter); as if, the dülger new where the nakkaş was going to paint and prepared the surface accordingly.
The artistry of the nakkaş in this Mahmut Bey Mosque can be analyzed under two headings: Geometrical and the Floral arrangements. While the art of Nakkaşlık is widely utilized in other areas, but since this building is a mosque we are seeing only the softer and simpler type of arrangements. The geometric patterns seem to go into infinity in some places but the floral decorations tend to be shaped out from the reality.What is usually present in Mahmut Bey Mosque is a style that was widely utilized through out Anatolia during the construction of the mosque. Although the style was named later, over the centuries, as Hatai is a densely and repetitiously applied type of an ornamentation technique. However, in some parts, a more naturalist and plainer style called Rumi is too present. It is interesting to see of this type of artistry in Mahmut Bey Mosque, since the Rumi style was not popular until the 16th century.
In the Near Eastern Islamic artistry there exists two main styles: one is the Hatai style, also known in literature with abundance of stylization, with overly crowded type of ornamentation; and the other, the Rumi style that became widely accepted in Anatolia is the rather plainer and more of a naturalist version of ornamentation. The detail between the roof and beams presents the two different style, one is rather simpler than the other. It should be noted that the geographic naming of the styles was common in naming the arrangements. Since the Anatolia during the Seljuki period was called the Rumi, the name must have been stuck. Of course, there were other styles like Herati, Isfehani, Kadi, Edirne work which were named because of their geographic originations. However, it is interesting to note that the absence of animal figures or even their representations of them, perhaps, have led the artisans to utilize the floral and geometric designs.

Conclusionary Remarks: This Candaroglu Mahmut Bey Mosque requires a well prepared and through study. The limited work present in the literature on or about this mosque has not passed beyond a few articles and numerous quotations in secondary and third hand materialsmost often in the tourism brochures for the region. The only extensive work on the figures was done By Mahmut Akok over half a century ago.